MORE THAN 200 BARANGAY REPRESENTATIVES PARTICIPATE IN CHILD LABOR PREVENTION AND ELIMINATION PROGRAM LEARNING SESSION IN BATANGA

Intending to provide salient information on child labor laws, the Department of Labor and Employment IV-A - Batangas Provincial Office conducted an online learning session with representatives from different barangays in the province of Batangas, on June 21.

Although conducted online, the Department reached more than 200 participants in a jampacked learning session on Republic Act No. 9231 which pertains to the “An Act Providing for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor and Affording Stronger Protection for the Working Child, Amending for this Purpose Republic Act No. 7610, as amended, otherwise known s the ‘Special Protection of Children Against Child Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act.”

In her opening remarks, Director Predelma Tan expressed her warmest appreciation to all the participants who exerted an effort to join the activity, especially those barangays in far-flung communities. She also emphasized the role of the barangays in the successful implementation of the monitoring of identified child laborers in different parts of the province.

DOLE BPO Focal Person on Child Labor Prevention and Elimination Program (CLPEP), Ms. April Rose Magpantay, spearheaded the lecture, in which she discussed the definition of a child and the differentiation when it comes to child work and child labor. Aside from these topics, Ms. Magpantay also shared the different initiatives and activities of the Department in achieving child-labor-free communities in all parts of the province.

Participants also actively expressed their thoughts and ideas during the session when they were asked to identify whether child labor or child work, the classification of every scenario shown on the screen to assess their understanding after the lecture.

The online seminar serves as a way for the Department to continuously disseminate information targeted to its partners on the field not only as part of the month-long celebration of World Day Against Child Labor but also in connection with its year-round campaign to eliminate child labor.